Sick Days and Secrets
by delkolvr33
Summary: Eric falls ill at work. When the team takes care of him, they find some things out about their coworker they didn't know.  some fluff at times E/C/S friendship
1. Poor Baby!

Oh, Poor Baby!

Cal Pov:

As soon as I start adjusting the microscope to compare my bullets Tim comes in. He asks, "Hey Cal can you help Eric out he's not getting far with his work, I think he's out of it today? Guess those few days of late running shifts are catching up to him." I automatically say yes because my best friend needs me. I'm out the door when Tim calls me back reminding me I need to finish my bullets first.

Finally I finish those bullets with the best results, a match. It always feels so good to nail the bad guy. Seeing Tim in the hall I ask," Hey does Eric still need help?" He nods and I head down to his lab.

Peeking in I see him hunched over trying to concentrate but something is obviously going on inside his mind. I step in and he has no idea I'm there. This could be fun.

I step over to where he's sitting and wrap my arms around him. He jumps and I laugh as he blushes. His cheeks still tinted he asks,"Cal what are you doing here I thought you had bullets to process?" I explained I thought he needed help and he smiled.

He told me,"help would be nice I'm having trouble concentrating today." I immediately asked, "Baby are you ok?" He nodded and told me his neck was sore. I didn't believe him but his pout told me he wanted me to drop it so I did. We settled in working, and I noticed Eric was working slower and looked a bit pale.

I left it alone until I noticed his breathing was off a bit. He waved it off, but once he started coughing he stopped lying and was acting miserable. He lay his head down, and whimpered as another coughing fit racked his weak body. Suddenly he just went limp.

Knowing I couldn't carry him I went, and got Tim to carry him down to Alexx. Horatio was in their when we all got there, and the first thing both he and Alexx asked was, "What happened to Eric?"

I explained his coughing, and Alexx told me he was obviously sick. She had Tim put him on the table and woke him. I smiled when he groggily asked, "What happened?" Tim told him he passed out, and he just nodded.

Alexx examined Eric, and told me, "The poor baby seems to have a bad case of the flu." Immediately Horatio ordered me and Tim to take him home. He told me, "We will all come over tonight and help care for him."

I had to laugh because he was the baby of the team, and we all treated him as just that. We were far to overprotective of the youngest member of our team, but to us he was the baby and needed us to protect him. In reality though he probably didn't but he will learn to live with it.


	2. Going Home

The Flu?

Cal pov:

As Tim carried him out Eric was dozing off on his shoulder. I felt bad for the poor sick baby. Every second he was looking worse and worse. We finally got to the car, and Eric was out cold. Tim unlocked the car, and I opened the door so he could place Eric in the backseat. I covered him up with my jacket, and rode up front with Tim.

Once we reached Eric's he stirred awake. Tim picked him back up, but Eric whined saying he could walk himself. I laughed because as soon as Tim let him down he felt really sick and dizzy and leaned back into Tim. He of course picked Eric back up, and quickly got him inside. He somehow missed Eric turning green and bolting out of the room. I followed him and found the poor baby in the bathroom leaning over the toilet throwing up. I rubbed circles on his back trying to help him but tears filled his eyes as his body continued to heave up nothing. I calmed him down and laughed as he curled up in the floor. I asked, "Eric, Hun come on get up." He mumbled, "No, I'm too tired I don't want to go." I laughed so hard. He was so out of it, it was pitiful. I told him, "Baby you don't have to go anywhere but I don't think you want to sleep on the bathroom floor." He simply raised his arms as best he could, but he was just about gone.

We finally got him into his room, and I laid him down on his bed. As he slept I looked through his clothes trying to find him something warm and comfortable to wear. Finally I found him some black sweats and a cozy University of Miami sweatshirt. I got him changed, and tucked him in.

Me and Tim were watching TV on his couch when we heard a pitiful little cry. We went running and saw Eric holding his stomach. I grabbed a bucket, and Tim helped him lean over. He threw up violently. He asked, "Water please?" after he was better. I held the cup to his lips, and he sipped it. Once he was better he simply curled up and slept.

We fell asleep next to his bed, and around nine we were woken up by the doorbell. We let Horatio and Alexx in, and hurried back to Eric.

As we neared his room we heard something we never ever wanted to hear.

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	3. Secret Revealed

Cal POV:

He was crying. Nobody had really heard Eric cry before. I mean yeah he'd gotten upset before, but I mean really cry like bawling your eyes out type crying. We ran into his room, and saw him buried into his bedding and pillows crying his eyes out.

Alexx knelt next to him, and lifted his chin. We saw his red rimmed eyes, and quivering lip. She asked, "Sweetie what's wrong?" He choked out, "A-Al-Alexx I-I-I D-Do-Don't f-f-feel g-g-good." She tried to stop his sobbing but nothing was working. She asked, "Hun what doesn't feel good?" Eric reached for me, and pointed to the bucket. I felt really bad that his stomach was so upset. He leaned over with my assistance and threw up violently into the bucket. I had to help calm him because his body started trembling and heaving nothing after a bit and he got overworked.

We all turned away for just a second, and Eric climbed out of bed. I turned to see him unsteadily walking. Alexx caught him before I did, and Smiled when he asked, "May I go lay on the couch?" Alexx giggled, and let him go. I insisted Tim help him get there in case he got dizzy.

Eric fell asleep watching a baseball game, and we all gathered in the kitchen while Alexx made soup for dinner. I peeked out to see Eric curled up on the couch. Alexx asked, "Does anyone else realize that Eric has a child-like manor when he's sick?" We nodded, but I added in, "well he is the baby of his family and was babied growing up and even now." We all laughed. I went to check on Eric, but he woke. I noticed he looked a little upset. I asked, "Hun what's wrong?" He looked up with the saddest looking puppy dog eyes I've ever seen and asked, "Do you guys… think differently about me now that you've seen me… well acting like a little kid cause I heard you guys earlier?" My heart broke for him. He's always been a tad bit sensitive about how people looked at him, but we'd never hold this against him. I promised him, "Eric its ok Alexx just asked if we noticed, nobody thinks any less of you, you are sick it's ok to need us." The shy smile and blush on his cheeks made me smile.

I led him to the kitchen, and got him settled into his chair. Alexx brought him over some soup. We watched Eric just sitting there staring at it. Alexx turned around, and recognized what was wrong. She brought over an ice cube and put it in the chicken soup and blew on it to cool it off. I had to elbow Tim when he laughed under his breath. The last thing we needed was Eric to get upset again because he tended to get a bit emotional when he wasn't feeling good.

After he ate some dinner he was off again. We all followed him, and watched as he climbed into his bed. He was asleep instantly. I figured he wasn't feeling too good, and let him rest. Alexx came in, but she looked worried. I looked over, and noticed Eric was curled up holding his stomach. He woke up, and was complaining. Horatio caught his shivering, and Alexx stuck a thermometer under his tongue. It beeped, and she saw how high his fever was. She had a worried look on her face and told us, "He has a high fever, it's at 102.2." He was dozing off again, but we all noticed his hands were under his pillow. I gently lifted his pillow and saw…

Thanks for all the responses and comments. Please review so I can continue writing. I will try to use any ideas you guys give me.


	4. Late Night and a Sick visit

Calleigh POV:

I smiled when I saw an old tattered childhood blanket under his pillow. Eric shot awake, and was coughing. Horatio brought him water, and Alexx rubbed his back trying to help him stop. Finally he calmed, and we asked, "Eric why is there a blanket under your pillow?" He looked puzzled, and looked up at me. I asked, "Hun, did you not know it was there?" He shook his head, and when he pulled it out I saw a discreet smile on his face. I figured he was glad to have some sort of comfort like he had growing up while he was so sick.

Alexx noticed his cheeks were really rosy, and felt his forehead. She told us, "Poor baby still has a fever." She got a cool wet cloth, and bathed his forehead with it. We noticed it was getting late, and Eric was looking drowsy. We tucked him in, and left for the guest bedroom and couch bed.

I woke up at seven, and heard a noise. I rushed to check on Eric but he wasn't in bed. I noticed a light on, and went into the bathroom. I saw Eric trying his hardest to stay awake as his body refused to let up on the heaving. He sat back finally, and looked startled when he noticed me. I asked, "Eric how long have you been in here?" He looked up, and said, "I think since five." I sat by him in the floor, and held him in a hug. The look in his eyes told me he needed his best friend to just be there for him instead of jumping into action. When he seemed better I told him, "Come on we have to go ask Alexx about you being this sick to your stomach." I led him to the guest room, and was surprised when Eric tugged on her arm like a child does to wake their mommy. She woke, and he told her, "I got sick." I made him lay down while I explained to Alexx that he'd been throwing up since 5.

We woke the two boys, and made Eric some oatmeal. I was glad to see he could hold it down. We got him ready to go to the doctor. We got Eric in the car, and he fell right asleep. Alexx was worried about him when he started tossing in his sleep. He shot awake, and she realized his fever was causing him to have nightmares. He was too tired though, and he dozed right back off.

Once at the doctor's office, we led a sleepy Eric inside. Tim warned us that Eric didn't like doctor visits. We smiled, and looked over to see Eric was a bit tense. He was called back, and we all followed. The nurse checked Eric over, and told us the doctor was coming in shortly. When he finally came in Eric seemed to have relaxed. The doctor did a couple of tests on him, and told us, "The tests should be back in just a few minutes." We nodded, and Eric curled up on the examination table.

When the nurse came back with the results, Eric was sound asleep. The nurse looked puzzled, and told us, "Well it seems he has caught the flu, but also a stomach virus." We felt so bad for him, and the nurse turned to check Eric's fever when he tugged on one of his ears. We all found it strange, and the nurse asked, "How long has he felt bad?" I told her, "We just realized he was sick yesterday, but I don't know why?" She told us, "Because it seems his ears are bugging him, he just tugged on one like a small child does with an ear ache." She went over and gently checked them without waking him up. She got the doctor, and told him and everyone, "He has an ear infection that developed from his flu." The doctor wrote us up his prescriptions, and Alexx carried him out so we didn't have to wake him.


	5. fevers,talks,and a bunny?

_Previously:_

_When the nurse came back with the results, Eric was sound asleep. The nurse looked puzzled, and told us, "Well it seems he has caught the flu, but also a stomach virus." We felt so bad for him, and the nurse turned to check Eric's fever when he tugged on one of his ears. We all found it strange, and the nurse asked, "How long has he felt bad?" I told her, "We just realized he was sick yesterday, but I don't know why?" She told us, "Because it seems his ears are bugging him, he just tugged on one like a small child does with an ear ache." She went over and gently checked them without waking him up. She got the doctor, and told him and everyone, "He has an ear infection that developed from his flu." The doctor wrote us up his prescriptions, and Alexx carried him out so we didn't have to wake him. _

Thanks, Foxfire832001 & Foxfire832001 for the reviews and ideas!

Calleigh POV:

As Alexx drove us home, I kept an eye on poor Eric. I still can't believe he's sick with three things. Once we got home Horatio went out to get supplies and pick up his medicines.

I got Eric tucked in, and as I left Tim came in. I told him, "Be quiet for now because he's resting, but if he wakes up please entertain him and keep him company." He nodded, and I left them.

Tim POV:

After Cal left I sat, and kept watch over my best friend. To him I was his big brother, and to me he is my little brother. Calleigh always says it's the cutest thing the way Eric sees me as his big brother, but he pitches a fit when she calls him cute. I looked up, and noticed Eric was waking up from his long nap.

He looked up at me with big brown eyes, and begged me to let him get up. I nodded, and he went to his dresser. He pulled an old floppy green bunny plushy off one of the shelves. He crawled back in bed, and went back to sleep. I gently pulled his old blanket over him, and left him to his nap.

Finally Horatio came home, put away the supplies, and gave Alexx Eric's medicine. She snuck into his room. I watched as she gently woke him. He seemed upset and I came in. He looked up, and asked, "Where is my squishy?" I had no clue what he was talking about. I stepped out as Alexx gave him all his medicines. I called his mom. When I asked her what a squishy was she laughed. She told me it was what he called his stuffed bunny. I asked why, and she told me it was the equivalent of stuffed animal for him, but he had trouble saying it when he was little. I laughed along with her, and she asked why I needed to know. I explained everything to her, and she told me to tell Eric they loved him, but they were out of town for three weeks. I told her we'd care for him, and to call him every now and then to help make him feel better. We hung up, and I rushed back.

He was teary eyed, and looked up at me. He asked, "Squishy?" I found his bunny, and he held it close. I called in Calleigh when he looked about to break down. She sat with him, and he asked me to leave so he could talk to Calleigh. I nodded, and left.

Cal POV:

After Tim left I looked at Eric and asked, "Hun what's wrong?" He clutched his bunny, and asked, "Do you guys think I'm a baby? I've given you guys plenty of reasons too, but I don't want you guys to treat me differently now that you know how I am when I'm sick." I pulled him into a hug, and told him, "Eric its ok nobody is going to treat you different when you are better. Right now you are sick with three different things, and we just want you to relax and let us care for you for once. You don't have to be all "I don't want you to see me weak and all" which I know I can be the same way, but please Honey let us care for you, and forget about everything else. It doesn't matter to us you are still Eric; this is just another side of you. Plus we all love this secret side of you. I think Alexx and Horatio love having someone to care for again. You have to remember to them we are their kids. Plus you already see Tim as your big brother so he already sees you as his kid brother." This made him smile, and he asked, "May I go lay on the couch?" I nodded, and he left.

I walked out, and saw him on the couch watching another baseball game, and he had his bunny with him. I noticed Alexx had him resting next to her. She was cooling his fever down, as he relaxed on the couch. It was like he was with his real mom. He looked so content. I was glad our talk helped him. He seemed to feel better knowing we all just accepted this as part of him, but didn't mock him or hold it against him.


End file.
